We’ve all heard the old saying, “A little birdie told me so-and-so.”  Well, recently some baby birds really did teach me some things, and I’d like to share those things with you.

     It all started this spring when a robin built a nest under the eaves of our patio outside my kitchen window — and for several weeks I watched her raise three baby chicks as I brewed our morning coffee.  The point of the story is that, much to my surprise, this mother robin and her chicks reminded me of some Spiritual growth principles that all Christians should remember.

     But first, let me give you the Scripture that the robin reminded me of.  You’ll recognize it immediately.  Here’s what Jesus said in that Scripture:

          “Look at the birds of the air.  They don’t sow, or reap, or store away in barns.  Yet
          your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Aren’t you much more valuable than they are?
          So don’t worry by saying, ‘What will we eat?’  ‘What will we drink?’  ‘What will we
          wear?’  Because the non-Christians run after these things and, after all, your heavenly
          Father knows that you need them.  Instead, seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness
          first, and then all these things will be given to you.”[1.  The author’s adaptation of Matthew 6:26, and 31-33.]

     Now, what has this Scripture got to do with a mother robin raising her chicks on my patio?  Watching her reminded me of four Spiritual growth principles that we often tend to forget.  Let’s look at those four principles one at a time.  Here’s the first principle:

     Spiritual Principle One:  Be Expectant.  The baby birds sat in their nest with their faces turned upward and their mouths wide open at all times — even when the mother wasn’t present.  They waited patiently with their faces toward the sky and their mouths open:  expectant, confident, and ready to receive whatever their mother brought them.  And eventually, without fail, she arrived with whatever they needed.  Now, shouldn’t we Christians do the same thing?  Shouldn’t we be expectant, and ready to accept everything our Father gives us and allows to happen to us?

     Spiritual Principle Two:  Be Patient.  The mother could only feed one chick at a time.  She skipped some of the chicks some of the time.  Now, what if one of the chicks had became impatient?  What if it had said, “Mother doesn’t love me any more!  She’s never coming back.  She’s never going to feed me again!  I’m sick of this whole thing!”  And what if the chick had lowered its head, closed its eyes, clamped its mouth tightly shut, and sulked the rest of the day.  Who would that have hurt?  The mother?  The other chicks?  No, it’d have only hurt the impatient chick — and it’d have been completely unnecessary.  Yet don’t we Christians do the same thing at times?   Shouldn’t we be patient with our heavenly Father, even if it seems that our Father isn’t answering our prayers and needs?

     Spiritual Principle Three:  Don’t Be Jealous.  The mother sometimes gave bigger meals to one chick instead of another.  One chick sometimes got a tiny bug, while another chick got a big worm.  Now, what if the chick who got a tiny bug had become jealous?  What if that chick had said, “My brother Joey always gets more than me!  He always gets the big ones!  I only get the little bitty ones.  I’ll show mother!  I’m going to hold my breath until I faint.  That’ll teach her.”  And what if the chick had lowered its head, closed its eyes, clamped its mouth tightly shut, and started holding its breath.  Who would that have hurt?  The mother?  The other chicks?  No, it’d only have hurt the chick who was holding its breath — and it’d have been totally unnecessary.  Yet, don’t we Christians do the exact same thing at times?  Shouldn’t we be happy when we see other Christians being blessed with bigger and better things than we’re receiving?

     Spiritual Principle Four:  Be Confident.  The mother never stopped watching over her chicks.  One morning, I saw her perched on our gate post about ten feet from the nest.  She was relaxing and preening.  But the whole time she worked on her feathers, her eyes were focused on the nest.  She never once stopped watching the chicks.  Now, what if one of the chicks had become lonely and frightened, and had said, “You know, I don’t think mother loves me anymore.  She’s never around.  I never know where she is.  I bet there are a billion other chicks in the world, and I bet she’s off feeding some of them right now, leaving me to starve to death.  I’m tired of her not watching over me.  I’m just going to jump out of this nest and fall on the ground.  That’ll show her what I think.”  And what if the chick had lowered its head, closed its eyes, clamped its mouth tightly shut, and started climbing out of the nest.  Who would that have hurt?  The mother?  The other chicks?  No, it’d have only hurt the chick who was climbing out of the nest — and it’d have been completely unnecessary.  And yet, don’t we Christians do the same thing at times?  Shouldn’t we be more confident of our Father’s love and protection, even when it seems He’s too busy for us?

     So, you can see what this mother robin and her three chicks taught me about Spiritual growth.  They taught me that we Christians can be apathetic, impatient, jealous, and doubtful with our heavenly Father, instead of trusting Him completely.  We can sometimes pout and be short-tempered with Him, like rebellious children — which maybe we are.

     Thus, let’s turn over a new leaf.  From now on, let’s be expectant with God.  Let’s never be impatient with Him.  Let’s not be jealous over what our brother and sister Christians get. And let’s be fully confident over our Father’s love and protection.  Because if we don’t do these things, it won’t hurt God.  And it won’t hurt our brother and sister Christians.  It’ll only hurt us.